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Before any additional steps are taken with respect to the potential coal-fired gasification plant in Wiscasset, the Coastal Journal calls on the legislature to consider Bruce MacDonald’s bill, “An Act to Require Capture and Sequestration of Carbon Dioxide Emissions from New Coal-powered Industrial Facilities in the State.”
The bill has moved to the Natural Resources committee, where it will soon be up for public hearing.
The bill would require that any new gasification or coal fired plant of any type must sequester 90% of the carbon dioxide it produces. The Twin River Energy plant proposed capturing only 25% of the carbon dioxide it would produce, and had no viable plans for storage.
On November 6, Wiscasset voters defeated zoning changes which would have cleared the way for the power plant to move forward. However, Twin River, which had stated that the vote would inform their decision to pursue the power plant near the Maine Yankee site, changed its rhetoric, and said after the election that the vote was “feedback” that the voters needed more information about critical issues such as noise, water use, and transportation of the coal and slag. The company did not mention the question of carbon capture and sequestration, which is at the heart of the MacDonald bill.
The Coastal Journal believes that a moratorium on coal plants in the state of Maine should be enacted while the bill works its way out of committee and reaches the floor for a vote. Such a moratorium would protect not only the pristine waterways, coastlines, and fisheries of the midcoast, but also Twin River Energy itself, which may lose a great deal of money if the plant begins permitting or construction, and then is stopped by this or other legislation.
The MacDonald bill is a good first step to developing a solid energy policy in Maine. We, as a state, have to make decisions about energy that make sense for the people of Maine, rather than allowing southern New England’s energy demands to make those decisions for us.
Currently, Maine has more power than it needs. New, clean sources are being brought on line by wind farms and run of the river hydroelectric plants, and with Maine’s slow population growth, these additional sources will be more than enough for our populations for the foreseeable future.
We are a net exporter of electricity to southern New England, and are paying for the privilege with a surcharge on our own electric rates to upgrade our transmission lines to the rest of the region. We as a population receive no benefit from this.
If southern New England needs a coal gasification plant - or any other kind of fossil fuel-driven plant - we respectfully suggest they build their own, in their own states.
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